Ashleigh at The Cleveland Clinic - The Fun Stuff First!

Ashleigh saying goodbye to New Zealand.

We left New Zealand at approximately 6:50 am on Saturday 17th February to head off on what is going to a life-changing experience for us all - no matter what the outcome of the investigations at The Cleveland Clinic may be.  At least at the end of all of this Ashleigh will no longer be in a holding pattern, waiting for the next test or possibility of help for this condition that is much more debilitating than anyone realises.

So it is with excitement that we leave, even though we know there is the very real possibility of a brain resection (removal of tissue) in Ashleigh's near future.  We flew to Brisbane with a stop over for a few hours and then on to Los Angeles - arriving before we left New Zealand - just after 6 am on Saturday 17th February.

In the States, check out of your hotel is later than at home so check in is later.  We picked up our rental car (another difference - you're not allocated your car but select it from a line of cars in the category you've rented) selecting the one with the biggest boot so we could fit everything in.  The day was spent sight-seeing around Beverley Hills while the kids slept, then walking down Hollywood Boulevard - hawkers trying to get you to buy something or do a tour every few metres.  Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe, then up to get close to the Hollywood sign - we weren't hiking up there as we were too tired!  The kids were shocked by the number of homeless and the sight of people eating out of the rubbish bins.

The next day was Universal Studio's - Ashleigh and I were so excited to be in Harry Potter World, the detail included in everything was incredible, even standing in line was interesting and the ride was awesome - really feeling like we were flying on a broomstick.  We all really enjoyed the studio tour as well as that showed actual sets and techniques used - Darryl loved seeing the Fast and Furious part.  We would love to spend more time at Universal.

Hogsmeade Village - Harry Potter World

Monday was Disneyland California Adventure Park.  It was President's Day so was busy, the lines were long, the rides were short with the rides we were most looking forward to were closed for maintenace and we were tired.  Ashleigh was really tired, I was definitely jet-lagged, Darryl said he wasn't too bad but the driving was/is stressful and Joseph was pretty good but to me the day just didn't go that well.  The funniest part was doing the log -ride - Ashleigh and Darryl didn't really want to do it but they got the wettest!

Tuesday we went to Disneyland - it really is magical.  The rides aren't the the most thrilling but what we loved most about both Disney and Universal is that really transport you to another place and create a different world.  Joseph was on fire this day - he had worked out the how to use the app well and had a plan and took charge.  The thing that we all had to keep remembering is that Ash gets a slump in her energy levels in the afternoon and struggles to keep going.  So as that hit we left and started the drive to Las Vegas - the kids both slept for a lot of the drive.  Darryl had to deal with driving on the other side of the road and 6 to 7 lanes of freeway - even trying to get "gas"was an experience with having to prepay and not being sure how much it would cost compared to home.

It truly is amazing seeing the lights of Vegas and as Ashleigh described it, you are just like the are in the movies, staring out the window with your mouths open.  Here you face a different type of hawker, these ones are for the strip clubs, including men propositioning young girls, but on the whole it is people just there to enjoy themselves and the lights of Vegas are really something to see.

The Strip in Las Vegas - photo's from my phone just doesn't do it justice

Wednesday morning we did a plane flight over the Hoover Dam and The Grand Canyon.  The scale is incredible and we know that there was much of it we still didn't see.  It is easy to think that the river carved it's way through the canyon but it is caused by upward forces - it's not just the canyon either.  As you're flying towards it you can see that everything is in layers.  The thing that blew me away was seeing the building with the sky walk over the canyon and in photos you see it is big - from the air in relation to the Canyon it is tiny.  This flight was my wish list item and I am so pleased we did it - nature outstrips the "bigger and better" stuff that Vegas does any day!

       

Just because we had to do a show in Vegas - we went to Jennifer Lopez at Planet Hollywood.  It was a great show with awesome dancing.  Ashleigh really enjoyed it and Joseph not at all.  Thursday was some shopping in Vegas as Ash wanted to do the outlet shops and back to LA to Venice Beach.  We had a quiet night as Darryl was tired after driving.  On Friday morning we met Mum at LAX after a few failed attempts, had breakfast at our hotel and a short stroll along the Santa Monica Pier - I was ridiculously excited to see the Zoltar machine!

Getting through LAX to fly to Cleveland via Chicago was the proof that the fun part was coming to an end - what a mission!  Arriving from overseas was easier.  Next is the business end of the trip - how did I feel?  An anxiety bubbling away inside of me that has led me to be a bit short-tempered on the day of travel but mostly the word I would use to describe how I feel and I think the way Ashleigh feels is READY - let's get this done...